정은지

i'm eunji -- and here comes the sun.

[eunjieveryday]

[landlordbergdorf-deactivated201]

Ugh, he really needs to call them and either let them know he’s not coming or let them know he’ll be incredibly late.  Fingers reach inside his pockets and - “Well, son of a biscuit eater.  I don’t even have my cell phone on me.”  Now he needs help and he hopes that the young woman can aid him anyway she can.  “I apologize again.  Do.. do you have a phone I might be able to use?”

A heavy sigh slips out.  “I should have stayed in bed today.”

[mcxeunji]

Truthfully? His “I’m Not A Pervert” routine is kind of endearing, if only because he’s in the process of making himself tiny by showing her he’s not what someone must’ve claimed him to be at some point today. She sighs, doesn’t think twice about magically cleaning up the spill of tea that runs between their feet, knowing that he’s just as aware of what she is as she is of him. “I can get another one,” she tells him, “no harm done. Please stand up, you haven’t done anything wrong, I promise.” He smells like a dandelion, like the country, like home, and she kind of enjoys being around him already, even if he clearly wants to be elsewhere. Who can blame him, after all?

“So you’re having a bad day,” she says slowly, the gears in her head tinkering together to make something of an idea. “I bet I can fix that. But you can’t go to work if I do.” It’s a little like the situation she’d had with Jae, though, and she doesn’t want to make promises she can’t keep, or ones that make someone feel a sort of way that she doesn’t intend. “I just mean -- I don’t know, this place is kind of awesome, and if you’re a librarian then you probably don’t see a lot of it, just stay cooped up among a bunch of books?” It’s a suggestion, and she hopes she’s not going too far with it, but she’s met a few of his kind before -- the sort that don’t see the world because they’d rather read about it in a storybook. She doesn’t understand, would rather experience things with her own eyes, ears, nose, skin. 

He doesn’t have his phone -- of course he doesn’t, it’s officially his Worst Day Ever. She feels bad for him, and not in a pitying way. With one hand she scoops up her grocery bag full of cupcakes, swings them delicately in the crook of her elbow. With her free hand she digs into her pocket, offers him her phone. “Here, call your work. Tell them you’re not coming in. I’ll wait.”

[notmcxbyulyi]

fascination.

[notmcxbyulyi]

                                                       ●  ●  ●

“shhh.” she attempted to silence her, stopping her from apologizing. a sheepish smile in assurance forms on her lips. “there’s nothing to be sorry about.” she pulled her hand away from the latter’s hold, letting her both hands graze against the younger’s cheek fondly, her pair of orbs staring directly into hers. “i like it.. actually.” she said, more of a whisper since she was shy to admit it.

“you still don’t mind, do you?” she asked hesitantly. but even though it was a question, still, she did not waited for an answer. instead, she leaned closer, capturing her lips with her own and closing the gap in between them.

and once again, in that moment, everything else was forgotten, letting herself melt into the kiss once more.

[mcxeunji]

Eunji doesn’t regret anything, least of all something so silly and trivial as a kiss, something that will change neither of them in the long run (though, from Eunji’s estimation, it feels as if it might do something to her for the next few days). She doesn’t want Moonbyul to think she does, either, so she quickly takes back her words, trampling over them with an eagerness unprecedented. “I’m not sorry for kissing you at all,” she insists, bold as you please. “I’m sorry that it came as it did.” And she means it, which she supposes is the important part; she hopes Moonbyul knows just how much she means it, as if the blush across her cheeks isn’t evidence enough.

Everything stops, though, when Moonbyul leans down and kisses her again. This time it’s a long, sweet gesture, with Eunji reaching up to curve her palm against the other’s cheek, thumb over the hollow beneath her eye in a show of tenderness. It’s surprising, she thinks, just how affectionate she can be with someone she’s only just met, but the fact of the matter is that she can, that she feels a certain sort of intimacy with Moonbyul that she couldn’t duplicate with anyone in her life.

Truth be told? She feels closer to this girl than she does to some of her closest friends in the world. And the idea is welcoming, of course -- she’s not completely lacking in compassion, to the point that she doesn’t want to be close with anyone -- but at the same time a bit repellent, as if she doesn’t know how to connect to people in her life.

Moonbyul will be the first person with whom she stays close, she decides, pulling the girl in for another kiss, another series of whispers of lips against lips, of soft touches and daring teases of tongue across the bow of the other’s upper lip. Mostly just to test the waters.

When Eunji pulls away she gazes long and lazy into the girl’s eyes, one eyebrow raised, a lazy grin pulling across her own mouth. “You didn’t strike me as the shy type at first, you know that?” she teases, reaching up and tweaking Moonbyul’s nose between her finger and thumb. “Maybe it’s because you’re so gorgeous, but I fully expected your confidence to outdo mine in a matter of seconds.”

Again with the compliments? She sure does like to lay it on thick.

“Anyway,” she continues on, “if you’d like, I have a favourite spot down by this pond nearby, if you want to go see it. I don’t know how your kind feel about eating food, but I brought a serious feast and there’s no way I’m going to eat it all.” In honesty, she brings extra food every night, just in case someone is starving, wandering her woods. But there’s no need for Moonbyul to know every detail. Something about how Eunji doesn’t want to show her weakness to everyone she meets. “I’m quite hungry, and I would deeply appreciate it if you would join me.” 

Her grin turns wicked for a split-second. “...Perhaps I could convince you to let me steal a few more kisses, first.”

[notmcxbyulyi]

fascination.

[notmcxbyulyi]

                                                         ●  ●  ●

byul wasn’t so sure where this sudden urge to kiss other, maybe because she looks so peaceful, and so beautiful—she realized it quite late that she was admiring the latter’s face up this close. maybe it was the overwhelming feeling that made her want to taste those lips. and she wasn’t even aware that she was leaning in closer… closer… closer…. until her face a few centimeters apart from hers, eyelids shut tight. but she abruptly paused. and she seemingly drawn back to reality once more, surprised of what she was currently – or was about to do. “i—“ she finds it hard to reason out, to find something to say at this awkward state. she wasn’t even sure if the latter was awake.

she never leaned back though, her face was still a few centimeters apart from eunji. somehow, she liked the proximity. byul looks up—and into the flowers she was holding before she slowly reached out to hold the latter’s hand fondly, interlacing her delicate fingers against eunji’s before she had pulled eunji’s busy hands away from the flowers while her other hand pulled away the flowers she was knitting.

“if you’re tired, you can take a break. don’t force yourself.” she spoke, her gaze diverting back into eunji’s face.

and she did not chose to let go of the other’s hand even if it wasn’t necessary.

[mcxeunji]

“M’not tired,” Eunji whines, shrugging her shoulders but not at all making an attempt to shake the hand out of her own. Of course, Eunji doesn’t believe in sleep, not when there’s time in nature on the line. When Eunji opens her eyes, she is keenly aware and longing for the sensation of Moonbyul’s face close to her own, of their lips only a hair’s breadth apart. And if she were a braver sort of fae, Eunji would do something about it, but right now she’s too busy contenting herself with the feeling of fingers woven between her own, of breath tickling her nose, of the close-encounter sensation of it all.

She doesn’t mean to be, but she’s overjoyed right now, in the calmest sense of the word. Her heart thuds steady and soft against the inside of her ribcage, and her stomach flutters, and she thinks she could faint this way, resting inside this other girl’s arms.

With a quiet sort of sigh she stretches, back arching, chest reaching upwards, and takes a long minute to count the vampire’s eyelashes, one, two, three... The idea makes her smile broader than anything she’s done tonight. Of course, she’s a bit of a hog for attentions and affections, so this level of closeness is making her heart race with excitement.

“You can kiss me, you know,” she says simply, closing her eyes again when she flops down into Moonbyul’s lap. She squeezes said vampire’s hand, cutting tenderly against the other’s skin with the curve of her thumbnail, scritching the hangul for her name against the pale surface of Moonbyul’s flesh. 

After doing this for a brief period, Eunji lets out a long humming sound. “You don’t have to give me anything, you know,” she says quietly, so soft, in fact, that she can’t be sure she’s actually gotten the words out of her mouth. “Your company is more than enough for me. Especially if you plan to use your gift to spend time with me.” She’s reluctant to use the word date, even if that might be what it is -- she’s never really dated, a point of contention with her, something that keeps her up at night and causes her deep embarrassment. “That’s more than enough. Plus, you’re so beautiful that just to look at you is a gift in and of itself.” The corners of Eunji’s mouth curl up into a wicked sort of smirk, and she knows Moonbyul is still very, very close to her, so she reaches up with her free hand -- letting her flower necklace rest on her belly -- and twines a strand of the other girl’s hair around her finger, tugging her in, closing the gap between them.

The anticipation is the best part, she thinks, the waiting for a kiss that might not even happen. But Eunji doesn’t have the full patience to enjoy it.

So she drops her touch from Moonbyul’s hair, reaches up and cups the back of her neck, tugging her down just that little bit more so that when Eunji opens her eyes she can aim properly and press her lips against the other girl’s.

Anticipation is overrated, anyway.

The kiss itself is quick, more a daring show of lips upon lips than a lingering gesture, and when she pulls back Eunji slowly opens her eyes, eyebrow raising until they’re hidden by her fringe. “I’m sorry, I just--” 

But she doesn’t have an explanation. There are no words to justify her actions. She turns bright red, unsure as to what came over her, and why the waiting couldn’t have been enough.

[mcxeunji]

on the run.

[unquantifiables]

amazingly enough, eric’s tests have been going well. with an average of around a 76 and the highest being a 98, the professor felt accomplished (especially for all the troubleshooting he did with the exams, i.e. sending each and every question to hoseok to make sure it was worded correctly, had logical answers, was challenging enough etc all). 

however, each exam had an unreasonably low outlier.

that outlier being a a student, jung eunji, and that score, a 34, 30 points lower than what was the lowest score on his bell curve. the first time eric saw that grade, he choked on his coffee and asked himself how the hell it happened before looking at the student’s test. the student had scribbled out all of the five possible answers and then put, and eric quotes, ‘f. YOUR TEST DOES NOT MATTER TO ME, MERE HUMAN’.

needless to say that after that, he wasn’t surprised as to why she got such a low score.

however, this was the second time that this shenanigan had happened. so to (hopefully) stop this from happening again, the professor called her into his office whenever she was free. and here she was. 

“hey there,” eric starts, a smile adorning his lips before raising his brows at her next action.

“well. its a 34. and i’d really love to talk with you about it.”

pause, he looks at the exam and then back at her.

“so what happened? did you freeze up or – ?”

[mcxeunji]

Did she freeze up? Eunji is appalled at the question, tries her best to hide her contempt. She doesn’t mean to, but she kind of hates him a little. Of course, she’s also certain her professor is a nice man, the sort with a kindly face and an easy smile, but she hates that he, as a human, is the authority on nature and the world surrounding them. She has more information stored in her little finger than he does in his entire brain.

It takes a great effort to keep from sighing at the question, from doing something uncouth.

“No,” she insists, stepping further into the office, her hands tucked neatly behind her back so as to hide the magic, borne of rage, twinkling between her fingers. “I did not freeze up. I just think that, as someone who’s spent a lot of time in nature, I should probably be as honest as I possibly can. Especially when you’re discussing ecosystems at large. I don’t think you understand how they really work.”

What? It’s a completely legitimate suggestion, as far as she’s concerned. Of course, this is coming from an individual who hasn’t made a lecture in at least three weeks. Perhaps he has improved.

In any case, she doesn’t feel rude, and continues on with a slight roll of her eyes. “For example, food? Doesn’t work in a chain. Sometimes creatures even eat one another, as opposed to the next level down. And relationships between organisms are rarely so lacking in complexity as to have only one label at a time.” She huffs, shaking her head, as if the answer were obvious. “Maybe I should just, you know, help you out a little. I know you’re a teacher and everything, but you have to really spend your life in nature to understand it. Biology’s easy enough as long as you’re paying attention, which, according to your science, you’re not.”

She raises her brows, puckers her lips, waits for his rebuttal, absolutely sure it’s a good one.

[yfxkyungtak-deactivated20161007]

no second thought | jaeho & eunji

[yfxkyungtak-deactivated20161007]

“Me? Ah…” He scratches the back of his neck, “I’m still looking, for the time being I still have plenty of money to last before I’m living out in the woods.” Which admittedly was from his mother, considering the fact that his father had yet to even reply to his text messages since he had left. But he pushes that face aside, giving her a smile, “I’m sure I’ll have it all figured out soon though. I have to.”

He does, however, tilt his head a bit to the side, looking almost like a puppy, “Is baking fun? I never really did it myself but it sounds nice… plus, under all of that vanilla you smell a little bit like flowers.”

Jaeho stops, a tad embarrassed and even more so shocked that he let that slip. Making such a detailed observation wasn’t exactly normal and unfortunately he wasn’t quick to realize that before the words had already left his mouth. 

“I mean, to me.” He tries to explain, “Probably just me.”

[mcxeunji]

If Eunji didn’t know any better she’d swear Jaeho were flirting with her. Maybe he is. Maybe he’s just a normally complimentary sort of person, not that she either knows or cares to find out. He hasn’t driven her away, in any case, and takes the compliment prettily, her cheeks staining a faint shade of red. “I should hope I smell like flowers!” she answers, as abrupt as can be. “I work with them all the time. Most of my day that isn’t spent working or at school is spent with them.” She laughs a little, embarrassed at her own sudden enthusiasm. “You should see my apartment. It’s a miracle anyone can even move around in there, there’s so many plants.”

At his question, she tilts her head, humming loudly, contemplating the answer long and hard before actually responding. “I guess I like baking,” she decides aloud, “it pays the bills and it keeps my roommate and I fed.” It’s hard not to mention the boxes of cupcakes she brings home every night, the fifteen pounds she’s put on since starting work there, but that’s neither here nor there. She bites her lip on the inside to keep it from happening.

She’s about three seconds from whipping out her phone and showing him the photos she’s taken of her hanging glass bubbles filled with tiny greens -- she’s way more excited about flowers than she is about muffins, after all --when the bus rolls up. She stands, stretches her legs, and turns back to him. “We’re going to the same place, right? I’ll sit with you if you want. And I can always help you figure out where to find a job. If worse comes to worst, you can always come apply at the bakery I work at. Or the coffeehouse across the street. We could be like competition.”

Holding out her hand, she grins broadly. She would destroy him in a competition, she knows that for sure. But who’s taking score, anyway?

[eunjieveryday]

[hyoywl-deactivated20180608]

Visit Original Link

[cckento]

silence is golden // eunji

[cckento]

“Well, the palace provides everything for basic living,” he says, “It’s not like I have much free time to be spending pocket money anyway, but I save enough for something special every once in awhile. This probably sounds really foolish, but I like buying the princess little human trinkets. I mean, it’s nothing compared to what she already has! But she seems to like those gifts, so I’m happy with just that.”

The way he talks about his allowances mimics an elementary student saving spare quarters to buy plastic rings from toy capsule vending machines. Such simple things bring him delight; it’s both heartbreaking and refreshing in a materialistic world. “If I have extra, sometimes I even buy candy for myself,” he adds. A bashful smile follows those words, but soon fades when he senses her held back tears.

“Of course not, but I really wanted to,” he says, “That’s how much all of this means to me.” He was a young man who had absolutely nothing, not even the right to his own body and mind, but such a small thing brought him to his knees. Something as silly – something so insignificant to most – as a few bites of sweets had him kissing her hand in gratitude, as if…

“Nobody’s ever done something like that for me before.”

He hobbles along otherwise undeterred by his broken ankle if it weren’t for the subtle clench of his jaw every three steps. Yonghwa moves forward with bleary eyes and xylophone ribs, just as he’s always done. The merman stops his struggle to return the favor from earlier; strong, calloused hands cupped her chin ever so gently so she could look at him. He has storyteller eyes, a soulful brown with flickers of adventure and spirit building inside a statuesque body. His gaze has heat – intense, strong, and completely focused on the person he makes a connection with. It was the look of someone who cared so deeply, it showed without a single word. It was the look of someone meant to protect, who could brush a thumb over one’s cheek to sweep away tears. He does sweep his thumb over her rosy cheek. There’s nothing there but invisible tears, but he catches them nevertheless.

“You must have a very kind heart,” he says softly, “You know, you’re one of those people who are just like the sun. There’s really warm – you can’t help but look up and smile. I really am happy and…you really did deserve all of that. So don’t be upset, my lady.”

It’s his natural instinct to care. It was, after all, what he’d been born and raised to do. He’s brushed stray locks of hair behind a crying princess’ ear so many times, he doesn’t think twice about doing it to Eunji. Finally, the merman’s smile bounces back into something more lighthearted and cheerful.

“It’ll take awhile for me to overdose on sugar,” he teased, “I have almost four hundred years to catch up on. It’s really difficult eating bland foods for so long when you have a monster-sized sweet tooth.”

Yonghwa repeats and endless cycle of the address inside his thoughts, but he’s worried that he’ll mess up reading the signs when the time comes. He preferred having the written directions to hold up to buildings and signs, all for the sake of finding the perfect match. “Do you think you could write it down for me?” he blurts, “I don’t want to forget because that would…well, that would suck.”

The tension in his shoulders drop with his laugh.

“Aigoo, I can already taste them~!”

[mcxeunji]

Somehow, Eunji had managed to assume previously that all he’d said about being a servant for the Royal Kingdom of Oceana was some kind of joke. As if he would pop up later and tell her, ha ha, I’m not really an indebted servant to anyone, it was just so you’d like me a little more, feed me a few more lemon squares. It would have hurt, certainly, but no more than the typical deceptions of human beings that she usually endures. So when he reiterates the point it sort of clicks with her -- he really is like this. Hammering home the idea really touches her, for reasons she can’t quite understand -- it must be that strange mothering instinct she has, the one that tells her that taking care of all human beings is her personal responsibility. So when he rambles about pocket money and buying things for the princess -- who buys things for a princess who could have the whole world, anyway? The idea breaks her heart, in a way -- she listens intently, nodding and humming along with his story. Then she feels the need to chide him, if only a little bit.

“Obviously I don’t know you, but if your salary only makes you two glasses of wine a week, shouldn’t you be worried about bigger things than trinkets?”

Then, realising how harshly her words could be interpreted, Eunji bites hard into her lower lip, stopping any more uncouth words from popping out of her mouth. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to sound like I’m judging. I’m not. I’m really not! It’s just that you need things in order to survive in this world.” She pauses briefly, unsure of how to phrase her next question, and in the end just going for it. “How long have you lived...well, up here? On land?”

She can’t take him home. The last unfortunate child she met in the forest was one she’d taken home, and though she doesn’t regret her decision -- up to this point, anyway -- she knows she can’t bring everyone home that needs it, no matter how dire their situation.

Although, there is a pretty cozy spot on her couch where he could sleep, if only for the night...

No. Eunji shakes the idea out of her mind as soon as it appears, continuing on with the conversation. Except...she doesn’t know how, because he’s so sweet, so genuine, and she doesn’t know how to take his compliments. They come from a place that she can’t even name, and she doesn’t know if she’s ever expressed herself so clearly as he does in that moment. She lets him brush her hair over her ear, knowing not the intent behind it but enjoying the gesture nonetheless. It’s at that moment that she’s stricken with a strange sense of deja vu, as if she has taken comfort in him somehow before. For a brief moment she thinks to mention it to him, to see if perhaps she has sparked the same curiosity in him that he has in her, but then bites back the need to do so in favour of enjoying this moment for what it is. Though she had been the one to save him, he is clearly in the business of saving her, at least as far as her sanity goes.

The evening is still early, and she has no definite plans for the remainder of the night, only knows that she plans to seek out a certain female, should she be out hunting, and watch the sunrise when it finally occurs. So it goes that she should ask: “Since you’re so sweet on getting fed, why don’t you come with me to a spot I have, not too far in the woods? I have food there; I’d been planning to eat but to be honest, my roommate insisted on having dinner with me before I came out here tonight, and I couldn’t eat another bite.” She prays her stomach makes no unkind noises; it would take the opportunity to embarrass her at any and all turns. At her own mention of her hiding spot, she remembers she had brought her math homework, and realises she can give him the written copy of the address to her place of business, and mentions as much to him: “I’ll be able to write down that...um, that thing.” She smiles brightly, reaching up to tuck hair away from her cheek where the wind is blowing it out of place. “I wouldn’t want you to miss out on your lemon squares just because I’m forgetful.”

[mcxeunji]

on the run.

( mxeric )

This entire thing is ridiculous. A 34? On a biology exam? Eunji can't conceive it, much less believe it. She's been living among the living things of this world for the past two hundred years of her life, has been closer to the fungi growing on collapsed trees than she has to some human beings, has observed more life cycles than any human she knows has been around. To think that she could do poorly on an exam about the only life she’s ever known? Laughable. Absolutely hilarious in her opinion. 

Then again, she had gotten a little...creative with some of the answers.

She supposes this is why she’s being forced into her professor’s office during office hours. She’s only a couple semesters in, and her math grades are suffering beyond reason in the first place; she’d hate to lose even more of her edge by failing something she knows she can be good at. That’s why she’s here, her exam clutched tight in her hand, peering into the window of Professor Eric Nam’s office, wondering if she should go in or if running and taking the failing grade is still an option. He hasn’t looked up and noticed her, after all.

She knocks on the door, then lets herself in. “Hello,” she greets stiffly, sorely repressing the urge to berate him for not understanding anything about the world at large. She holds out her exam without another word, giving him a look that says ‘please explain’, unable to speak the phrase herself.

[day-and-moonlightdreaming]

[yfxkyungtak-deactivated20161007]

no second thought | jaeho & eunji

[yfxkyungtak-deactivated20161007]

He nods along with her words, eyes wide and honest with interest. He’s glad that they were able to move from the initial awkwardness, even if it was with simple little talk, and even more so that she seemed more comfortable. “History or writing? You must be really smart. My dad wanted me to go into business but…” His words trail off for a moment, the mention of his father bringing a small bit of pain in his chest before he mentally shakes it off and continues, “It’s just something I really love to do. I was a backup dancer for a friends music video once, but nothing since then.”

Finding work here was admittedly difficult, but he was sure he would face the same consequences everywhere else.

“And it’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s only been a little over a week, my apartment’s still a mess though.” He says with a smile, eyes forming crescents before he eyes her apron. “And I’m guessing you bake for now?” 

As if her smell didn’t already give that away. 

[mcxeunji]

She laughs a little, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and nodding. “I do bake. For now.” Forever, she wants to add; she’s not tired of her job, though she still has many, many years to go in her current lifetime. It makes her feel more normal, less un-aging, undying, to talk about something typically impermanent among humans. Not to mention, Jaeho’s pretty easy to talk to. He does it to himself, being the guy who smells people at random. “I’m not sure I want to keep doing it, if only because I’m tired of smelling like flour spray and vanilla when I get to class, but it pays rent at my apartment, so I’m kind of glad for it. What about you? You have a job? I mean, I know it’s only been a week, but it’s never too early to start looking, right?”

She finds herself somewhat enchanted at his struggles with his family, at his passion, and smiles brightly when he speaks on dancing, on how it makes him feel. She hasn’t yet found that thing that she loves to do, her calling, so to speak; if she has one as of yet it’s probably pranking humans, which isn’t something that can be considered a profession, to her great disappointment. “That’s great, though, finding the thing you love doing.” She shakes off his compliments; she’s not horribly smart -- and the image of her remedial math class, the room filled with equally as slow students struggling their way through various problems, flashes through her mind again -- and definitely not worthy of the things he says of her. “I’m alright. I just like reading and writing and stories.” 

She doesn’t add that she can’t do simple math to save her life. It wouldn’t help.

[mxhakyeon-deactivated20151215]

home sweet misery.

[mxhakyeon-deactivated20151215]

LOVELY.

He gives a faint smirk, thumbs that were tracing circles into her shoulders now pressing firmly, probably border-lining uncomfortable. ‘ Oh I’m not telling you HOW to feel darling, I’m just suggesting. ’ He murmurs faintly, eyes narrowing at her words. Fingers trailing to her scalp, they entangle in her hair, pulling the roots firmly with minute aggression. ‘ There’s no need to get rude now. We’ve discussed how much your MOUTH can get you into trouble, haven’t we? ’ He releases her with a tick of annoyance, standing up straight.

 ‘ You’ve got thirty minutes. Use them wisely. ’ And then he leaves, shutting the door behind him.

[mcxeunji]

It doesn’t bother her when he hurts her, not like it normally would anyway -- she just winces away from his touch and sets to cleaning herself slowly, ignoring his words, knowing he’s right. The entire time he’s gone she berates herself for having opened her mouth -- she should have known better than to smart off to him, should have been better at controlling herself. She’ll probably end up paying for this later, and she knows that, and the thought sends a shudder through her whole body. The water bubbles up around her, and she sinks into it, submerged beneath its tremulous surface.

When she’s finished she dries off slowly, brushes out her hair, working the tangles out of it with a gentle hand. She doesn’t want to end up with a bald spot, although the stress of her current situation threatens to do that to her anyway. Then she goes back to the bedroom where she’d been held captive just a brief half hour before and dresses herself in the clothes provided for her. “I’m almost ready,” she calls out, unsure as to why she feels the need to clarify things for him. Mostly she’s just looking forward to the hot cup of tea. For a half-second she entertains the thought of burning him with it, but then realises that it probably wouldn’t hurt him as much as she’d like to think.

When she’s done she goes out to the kitchen, glancing around for him. “All done,” she declares, hoping he’s satisfied with her timing.

[eunjieveryday]

[notmcxbyulyi]

fascination.

[mcxeunji]

mcxbyul:

                                                          ●  ●  ●

once the silence barrier was once again broken, she diverted her gaze back to the other. she finds herself flustered once more. the compliment caught her off guard, really. “thank you.” she answers genuinely. she didn’t really deserve this much compliments to begin with, she felt rather overwhelmed… but who does it sound so pleasant to the ears, not to mention that was it was coming from a girl she adores. “i hope you don’t mind if i ask but – are you always like this? do you, like, compliment people very often?” she asks. there was a subtle disappointment in her eyes, though she haven’t heard the answer yet.

“also, how many days do they last?” she asks, her gaze diverting into the flowers she was tying. “i wanna know how many days i have before it wilts. how many possible days i can spend with you.” and once again, her gaze fell into the latter’s face. she finds herself staring at her fondly, a soft smile gracing her lips. 

Is Eunji asking Moonbyul out on a date? She doesn’t frame it that way, hasn’t dated in her entire lifetime, although she’s had romances here and there throughout the course of her two hundred years of existence. She doesn’t know herself if she’s asking anyone out to anything, save for a little time together in the light of day. Things are just so much more fun under the sun, or so Eunji believes, and she wants this girl to enjoy these things as well, especially considering the fact that she can’t under normal circumstances.

In short, Eunji wants to show Moonbyul a whole different world, one she probably hasn’t experienced in quite some time, if her current state of being is any indication.

She finds her mind is riddled with questions for the other female now, and she watches her with curious eyes. “You’re not offended if I suppose I technically am asking you on a date?” she questions, smiling despite herself. “Because I would hate to offend you.” She means it more than she has with anyone in quite some time, which surprises her; she’s typically a person who can be genuine with strangers, even ones who dislike her, indicated by a previous interaction just the other day. 

As Moonbyul’s eyes trail off into the sky, Eunji follows her gaze, mouth falling open into a perfectly round ‘o’. “The moon is lovely, it’s true,” she confesses, tracing the curve of it with her stare. “It’s nice to be out on a chilly night such as this and lie in the grass and watch the stars interact with the moon. But there’s something so...forgiving about the sun. She always keeps us warm and well-lit and makes sure we can see everything in our path.” And Eunji giggles softly, reaching out with one hand to stroke her thumb along Moonbyul’s knuckles. “I imagine you haven’t been in the sun’s company much over the last however many years you’ve been around. And I promise I have enough manners not to ask how many years that is. But I know that if I were doomed to the moon for the rest of my life, I’d want to see the sun a few more times, just for the satisfaction of doing so. If you don’t think so, then I’m sorry for presuming, but...that’s how I feel about it, so.”

At Byul’s question, Eunji perks up. “Hm?” Eunji looks up from the task of making knots between the nimble fingers of one hand, eyebrows shot halfway up her forehead. “Oh, um...I’m not sure. I think a week or so. Mine usually last that long, anyway. You’re lucky you caught me on the night I’m making new ones.” She smiles softly at that, a private joke between she and herself. It’s not as if she wouldn’t have made one for Moonbyul, but she’s already made herself several days’ worth of different ones in which she can go out, so another is no trouble. “I’m lucky that I met you when I was making them,” she adds after a beat, “that I could give you such a gift.”

In that quick moment, Eunji’s heartbeat speeds up somewhat, and she is overcome with the urge to kiss Moonbyul’s soft-looking mouth, but she restrains herself, telling her instincts that there are better times, better places, better lives during which to do such a thing. It’s easier to be in love, for this moment, for this brief part of time, than to act on something she doesn’t know for sure will work. So she draws her knees up under her, curling in on herself, and lays down, her head in Moonbyul’s lap, still working at the knots in her flower necklace as if she’s going to finish it anytime soon. She wants it to be perfect, but she’s so overwhelmed with the need to be close to this girl, this vampire, this beautiful danger lurking in her forest, that she wants her gift to be absolutely perfect. 

“You don’t mind, do you,” she mumbles, and she doesn’t feel like sleeping, but she closes her eyes for a long minute anyway,  content with the feeling of another body so close to her own.

[yfxkyungtak-deactivated20161007]

no second thought | jaeho & eunji

[yfxkyungtak-deactivated20161007]

Her response is what brings him back to reality, pushing away his instincts and instead buries his face into his hands. Ugh. It was too early into the day for him to screw up and embarrass himself like this, and he can only imagine how this complete stranger feels. He raises his head, lips curled into a slight frown, “No, don’t apologize. I, uh…” He glances at the older woman, seeing her over the girl’s head and bowing his head in a quiet apology.

“I didn’t mean to do that it just… happened.”

A sorry excuse but unfortunately it’s the honest truth.

Before he manages to make a deeper hole for himself in less than five minutes, Jaeho takes in a breath to relax and collect himself. It could have been worse, honestly, she could have hit him, he’s a little surprised that she hadn’t. At least there was a tiny bit of light in all of this… from his perspective, of course.

“My name is Jaeho. Song Jaeho. Dance Major. I moved here not to long ago, ah…” He pauses, giving the girl a smile, “What’s your name, miss?”

[mcxeunji]

She’s suspicious of the interaction, but only because it had started off so awkwardly that she can’t help herself. “My name’s Jung Eunji.” She pauses, then figures that the chance at conversation is better than nothing, and decidedly better than the talk with the old lady to her other side would be twice as difficult to navigate at this point. “You go to school? Me too, that’s kind of why I’m sitting here. I’m a second-year, undeclared. Kind of leaning towards history or writing.” She laughs quietly at herself, thinking of the math class she’s due to head into here soon, how much she loathes it. “Dance, though, that’s interesting. What made you choose that? Do you perform often?”

She’s spilling forward with tons of words without even meaning to, flashing her most brilliant smile, mostly in an effort to make up for her previous rudeness. It’s not like her to start off her day in a way that would hurt someone’s feelings, after all. If she’s uncomfortable, after all, he must feel twice as much of that, considering he’s the one who’d accidentally started it. 

"Alright, nice to meet you, Song Jaeho. How long have you lived here in Busan?” she asks quietly, watching his movements with a critical eye, making sure he doesn’t try to smell her again. After all, a repeat performance at this point would just be an embarrassment for the both of them.

[cckento]

silence is golden // eunji

[cckento]

Focusing on the conversation dulled the throbbing in his ankle, the cracked bones heating up like they were kindling for a fire. “If neither of us can remember, then we were probably drinking,” he laughs, “I usually charm humans into buying me drinks because two glasses of wine is like a week’s worth of pay.”

Yonghwa switches between personas so quickly, he’s an anomaly to those unaware of underwater culture. He effortlessly moves from a relaxed, borderline obscene way of speech to the proper words of an equally proper servant. The merman tests his weight, but his leg jerks up like a pelican balancing on a post once he feels the sting. If he remembers to grit his teeth, the foot is relieved enough for him to hobble on. “It should heal right up once if I soak it in water,” he says tenderly. His shoulders hunch up in surprise when she cups his chin, and a wave of emotions crash at him full force. It’s a teasing little thing to get his attention, but his mother had always used the same trick.

“You’ll really let me eat there?” he asks, “I don’t want you to think that I’m some charity case, you know. I mean, serving the royal family is an honor. You shouldn’t feel like you have to pity me.” The halfhearted attempt to salvage his pride is obliterated the more he imagines row upon row of lemon squares, enough to make up for weeks of crumb dinners.

“Thank you so much, my lady,” he says. His words rush together in his effort to give gratitude as quickly as he can, and he bows over in respect. “There’s nothing I can give you but my gratefulness,” he says, “I don’t have any material belongings, nor money or property. But…I’m forever in debt to the kindness you’ve shown me.” With that, he kneels down – his good leg supporting his weight, of course – and delicately takes the faery’s hand. He presses a chaste kiss on her dainty knuckles before lowering his head a final time.

Each show of respect is rehearsed like clockwork.

But the blush on his cheeks is an original.

“You don’t happen to make…those lemon square treats at your bakery, do you?” he asks shyly, “Those are my favorite.”

[mcxeunji]

She knows exactly what he means about tricking humans into paying for drinks, seeing as she does it quite often, but not quite the part about exchange -- two glasses of wine for a week’s pay? She makes more than that at her bakery job, and it’s not much but it’s enough to pay her bills and buy herself as many flowers as she wants. She frowns at the idea of it all, and before she can stop herself the question is pouring out of her mouth: “What are you, some kind of slave? You deserve much more than two glasses of wine a week!” Then she shrinks back from her own accusation, her brow knitted together in concern, both at her own words and his reaction to them, as well. She covers her mouth with her hands, not feeling like saying anything else worth apologising for, at least not at this juncture.

With careful eyes, she watches his reaction to her magics, not wanting to scare him off -- she doesn’t know hardly anyone well enough to gauge their reactions to being healed. Some are afraid of the technique; she’s pleased to see Yonghwa isn’t one of them. She is, however, dismayed to find that the solution could’ve been much simpler, and is about to suggest taking a hike down to her favourite spring, but it probably wouldn’t do anything for someone accustomed to the healing power of sea salt. Instead she forces a grin, waggles her eyebrows. “Anything so long as you feel better!” she declares, arcing upwards on her tiptoes and clapping him on the shoulder, careful not to knock him off balance by going too hard. 

It is nothing to her, to be so kind to him, which is why she blushes a bold shade of crimson when he kisses her hand, shows her genuine respect and gratitude. She’s not used to people saying ‘thank you’, just does what she does and goes on her way, so for someone to go this far... She can’t even bring herself to think of it. “You don’t have to go through all that,” she murmurs, her lips barely moving, mouth gummed together by the threat of tears that wells up inside her.

She isn’t the best at what she does, nor is she the kindest -- her tongue is too sharp at times, too probing, her intentions not pure enough -- but the fact that someone could be thankful for her is the entire reason she shows kindness to strangers. It’s the same thing that had prompted her to kill the hunter chasing after this Yonghwa.

“Just remember the address,” she says softly, looking away with a hand at her chest. “I promise I’ll feed you whatever I can. And you don’t worry about repaying me, it’s my pleasure to take care of you.”

It’s a truth she spouts often, but she rarely means it as much as she does right now.

At his inquiry, she laughs, tickled pink by his shyness, the manner in which he asks. “We’ve got lots of things, and if I recall correctly, lemon squares are, in fact, among them,” she tells him with a pat to his forearm. “If they are what you want, then I’ll give them to you. Among other things. I can’t have you overdosing on sugar, now.”